The present disclosure relates to a toner conveying device and an image forming apparatus including this.
An electro-photographic image forming apparatus includes a cleaning device which removes toner (also referred to as “remaining toner” below) remaining on a surface of a photoseptor.
For instance, the cleaning device includes a cleaning member fixed to a container which comes into slide contact with a photosensitive drum, and a toner conveying screw which is rotatably supported in the container. The toner conveying screw conveys the remaining toner collected by the cleaning member, to an outlet (downstream end).
However, when the conveyance amount of the remaining toner increases, the remaining toner remains near the outlet in the cleaning device. In this case, it is not possible to appropriately discharge the remaining toner from the outlet. For instance, a scraper of a flat shape is provided to the toner conveying screw. The scraper rotates with the toner conveying screw and scrapes the toner remaining near the outlet.
However, there is a case where the remaining toner readily adheres to the toner conveying screw or the scraper in high-temperature environment, for instance. The remaining toner adhered to the scraper is pushed out by the remaining toner conveyed by the toner conveying screw, and remains at a bearing part at a downstream side of the toner conveying screw. The remaining toner remaining at the bearing part thermally bonds to the toner conveying screw and the bearing part. Thermal bonding of the remaining toner disables the toner conveying screw to smoothly rotate.